As cover crop acreage adds up, more benefits emerge

More than 90% of farmers participating in a national cover crop survey reported that cover crops allowed them to plant earlier or at the same time as non-cover-cropped fields in 2019. Among those who had "planted green," seeding cash crops into growing cover crops, 54% said the practice helped them plant earlier than on other fields.

Those findings were among several new insights from the 2019-2020 National Cover Crop Survey, conducted by the nonprofit Conservation Technology Information Center (CTIC), with financial support from the Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education (SARE) program and the American Seed Trade Association (ASTA). These organizations have worked together on several past national cover crop surveys, with the first survey dating back to the 2012 crop year.

The 2019-2020 survey, which included perspectives from 1,172 farmers representing every state, was the first by SARE, CTIC, and ASTA to include detailed exploration of planting green – a tactic employed by 52% of the respondents — as well as crop insurance use among cover croppers and the impact of cover crops on the profitability of horticultural operations.

Many U.S. farmers have turned to cover crops as part of their strategy to improve soil health while reducing input costs and maintaining yields, stated Mike Smith, who managed the national survey for CTIC. Survey participants averaged 465 acres in cover crops in 2019, an increase of 38% in four years. The USDA Census of Agriculture found a 50% increase in cover crop acreage over the five-year period between 2012 and 2017.

"Farmers are using cover crops for a variety of reasons and many have tried new approaches to cover cropping," Smith says. "This year's survey also indicated that some concerns many growers had about the effects of cover crops on planting dates in a wet year did not happen – in fact, in many cases, cover crops helped farmers plant earlier in the very wet spring of 2019."

According to Rob Myers, regional director of Extension programs for North Central SARE, "many farmers are finding that cover crops improve the resiliency of their soil, and the longer they use cover crops, the greater the yield increases and cost savings reported by producers."

"We are pleased to see farmers appreciate the expertise of cover crop seed companies with 46% saying they buy from them and another 42% buying from retailers," says Jane DeMarchi, vice president of government and regulatory affairs, ASTA. "Professionally produced cover crop seed is grown for seed from the start and has been selected, harvested, cleaned, and tested for performance. The study shows farmers are using a range of cover crop seed and mixes to address their individual needs with 46% paying $15 or less per acre."

Among the 1,172 farmers who provided responses in the 2019-2020 National Cover Crop Survey, 81% were commodity producers (corn, soybeans, wheat, cotton, etc.) and 19% categorized themselves as horticultural producers.

Here are some highlights from the survey. A full report is available free online at ctic.org/data/Cover_Crops_Research_and_Demonstration_Cover_Crop_Survey or sare.org/covercropsurvey.

Yields

The previous five national cover crop surveys sponsored by SARE, CTIC, and ASTA have all reported yield boosts from cover crops, most notably in the drought year of 2012 when soybean yields were 11.6% improved following cover crops and corn yields were 9.6% better. In 2019, when wet early conditions prevailed across much of the corn and soybean regions, yield gains were more modest but still statistically significant. Following the use of cover crops, soybean yields improved 5% and corn yields increased 2% on average, while spring wheat yields improved 2.6%.

Saving on farming costs

Many farmers reported economic benefits from cover crops beyond just yield improvements. Of farmers growing corn, soybeans, spring wheat, or cotton, the following number had savings on production costs with fertilizers or herbicides:

• Soybeans – 41% saved on herbicide costs and 41% on fertilizer costs
• Corn – 39% saved on herbicide costs and 49% on fertilizer costs
• Spring wheat – 32% saved on herbicide costs and 43% on fertilizer costs
• Cotton – 71% saved on herbicide costs and 53% on fertilizer costs

While cover crop seed purchase and planting do represent an extra cost for farmers, it was notable that most producers are finding ways to economize on cover crop seed costs. Whereas earlier surveys from 2012 and 2013 reported on a median cover crop seed cost of $25 per acre, most farmers reported paying less in 2019. Of the responding farmers, 16% were paying only $6 to $10 per acre for cover crop seed, 27% were paying $11 to $15 per acre, 20% were paying $16 to $20 per acre, and 14% were paying $21 to $25 per acre. Only about one-fourth were paying $26 or more per acre.

Planting green

Planting green refers to planting a cash crop like corn, soybeans, or cotton into a still-living cover crop, then terminating it soon after with herbicides, a roller-crimper, or other methods. In this year's survey, 52% of farmers planted green into cover crops on at least some of their fields. (In the 2016-2017 report, the most recent prior survey by SARE, CTIC, and ASTA, 39% of the respondents had planted green.)

• Of the farmers planting green, 71% reported better weed control.
• 68% reported better soil moisture management, particularly valuable in a wet spring.

Horticulture producers also benefit

For the first time, the survey queried horticulture producers about how cover crops have impacted their profit. Of the 184 horticulture producers responding to that question, 35% reported a moderate increase in net profit (defined as an increase of 5% or more), and another 23% reported a minor increase in net profit (2% to 4% increase). Even after factoring in the purchase and planting cost of cover crops seed, only 4% observed a minor (2% to 4%) reduction in net profit, and none reported a moderate loss in net profit.

Available online

"The 2019-2020 National Cover Crop Survey shows that an ever-growing number of farmers of all types and in all regions of the U.S. continue to find advantages to using cover crops," says Myers at SARE. "While the first survey in 2012 showed the benefits of cover crops in a drought year, this year's survey showed that cover crops helped farmers in wet weather as well, with many of them being able to plant in wet spring weather when conventional neighbors couldn't. The survey showed farmers are figuring out how to make cover crops work for them economically, while using them as a tool to address challenging issues such as herbicide-resistant weeds."